blackberries

A triple berry crisp made a few days ago.

This morning in the garden taking a moment to pick blackberries under grey skies for just a moment before the rush begins.

strawberry season

June....you snuck up on me.
It's a busy time of the year with school ending this week for one and next week for the other one and all the events that come along with it and in my little corner of the world this also means strawberry season. Every day for a good three weeks I am out in my front yard picking strawberries and as fast as we can we try to make things with them and of course there is a lot of hulling and freezing going on. Often the kids want the frozen ones even though I am always saying...but there are like 100 I have just picked and more in the yard. Ms. S has a habit of picking them and then running off to hide and devour them secretly and she does this because I always say we should wash them first.

So, there has been jam (some with basil added) and there has been strawberry shortcake and a few other things. I am happy to have rhubarb growing in the garden to combine those two. Strawberries are so versatile and I can think of a lot of ways to use them which is good since I have a few hundred plants. Oh, I just remembered chocolate covered strawberries.

horses

A horse shaped cookie cutter was purchased over the summer at an antique store in Cape Cod so horse shaped gingerbread cookies, clouds, trees, tiny men and christmas trees -recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. Shortbread: recipe here. Winter cookies: recipe here.
I have been thinking of chocolate mousse. I had no idea you could make it with good quality chocolate and a little water so maybe I will try it soon. Find out how here.



A hanging horse and bird mobile inspired by this one. I love that shop and indulged in the leggings which are amazing.



My flowering quince branch brings me a lot of joy as we enter the winter season. I also found pink peonies from Chile at Whole Foods today which I am over the moon about.

three- layer peppermint bark

I made up a batch of peppermint bark over the weekend. It came out pretty delicious and I've been good and only indulged myself with a few small pieces so I can give some out for gifts. More holiday baking will be happening next week. There will be shortbread of course even though I curse myself when I am trying to knead it all together and I am thinking of making these cookies.

The recipe for the bark is here.

red currant jam

We grow currants in our front yard both red and white ones. I confess I am sometimes at a loss what to do with them. So, I decided I would make some red currant jam recently. I don't have a potato masher so I mashed them a little with the fork but, if you have ever tried mashing currants with a fork it's pretty hard so I decided to just boil them up almost whole with water and sugar. I let this cook for a while on and off. I had to leave the house to pick up my boy so I first cooked it for about 45 minutes and then later for about an hour and a half. I wish I remembered the proportions. Surprisingly my currant jam came out really nice. It's thick, tastes good on toast and is nice mixed with something creamy as well.

lavender shortbread

Some lavender shortbread was made on Monday. Our lavender is in bloom and I always am so happy to see it come to life as there are so many great ways to use it. This is the first time I baked with it and have been wanting to experiment with herb shortbread for a few years and am happy that I finally did. There are so many interesting herbs to try out with this recipe in the garden. Since you use them dried this is a good project to try out when you have the time since herbs have such a long lifespan in the garden.

I based my recipe on this one but, did not use lemon zest or mint. I did add a splash of homemade lemonade (this is why I had no lemons) and also added a teaspoon of rosewater and a teaspoon of vanilla.

They came out delicious and are even better the day after. The little burst of lavender is really nice and not at all overpowering.

Edit to add: I forgot to tell you that for the last minute I sprinkled on some superfine sugar and that this recipe with the small heart shape yielded about 50 pieces.

happy holidays!

Here are a few more things I've been up to

Rosemary Olive Oil Breads
Cut out wool felt ornaments - silhouettes, cats, stars. I really like the black against the green of the tree.
Pretty garlands inspired by Stephanie's.
Glazing a whole lot of sugar cookies. I love sanding sugar and I added some glitter dust into the icing.
A big lace scarf in the prettiest shade of green.
A red sweater that still needs sleeves and a button band.

The galettes need to be filled, the house needs a scrubbing and if I find any more lights in the attic I will be adding even more twinkle. The decorating is never really done now is it? Or the wrapping but, I'm getting closer.

Hope you all have the happiest of holidays. I'll see you soon!

xo

Nancy

happy thanksgiving

It's all about the pie for me and here is my contribution.
Alicia's The Sour Cream Apple Pie.
I have recommended this pie to others without ever even baking it myself so I figured it was about time. From the reviews I've read from trusted sources I hear it's very good.


I have a small little collection of pie birds and this blackbird is my favorite one but, I forgot to stick it in while baking. Really though this type of pie doesn't need to use one.


Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

cupcake morning

This morning I ate a cupcake before 9:30 AM in the kitchen while the kids were in the other room and I didn't get caught. It was that kind of day.

sun egg muffins

I pulled out all the Spring books this past weekend when we welcomed the new season. One of my favorites is The Sun Egg by Elsa Beskow

The book inspired me to do some baking and what luck I had all the ingredients to make these orange pecan muffins. They are delicious. The recipe is from the Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook and the muffins are called Orange Glazed Muffins however I left off the glaze and just sprinkled a little sugar on top and then put them back in the oven for a few minutes after I had turned off the heat

strawberry shortcake

We had a garden party for S on Saturday.

I made strawberry shortcake.My Mom made lemon cupcakes with lemon icing. I decorated them with butterflies.
There was a ladybug, a bumblebee, some birds and mushrooms in attendance. There were tissue paper pom poms and yummy middle eastern food and pastas.

She opened all of her gifts herself and kept looking around to see if there were more.

All the kids got seeds in a plantable container and a ladybug chocolate.

She wore a vintage white eyelet dress from France with ribbons, pink tights and ballet shoes and a little bird in her hair.

two

Dear Scarlet,

Yesterday, you turned 2.
Sadly, you were sick (as we all are) but, we made the best of it.
I let you wear your fairy costume because you love it so much and you needed cheering up.
You had two of your favorites for dinner - pizza and rice.
I made you a vanilla cake with pink frosting because I knew you would be excited that it was pink.
And, cuddled you and gave you hugs and kisses.
I love you. Get well soon. And, tell your brother to stop bringing home germs from school. Okay. Okay.

Love,

Mama

lollipops and daisies

Yesterday, the boy and I made lollipops. The flavor is lemonade and we used daisy candy molds. I planned on them being yellow but, since Matty was in charge of the food coloring they are orange. He loved watching the mixture bubble up and change color. Very exciting for both of us really and easy project to do with kids.




Here is a daisy flower applique t-shirt I made for Scarlet. Her birthday is coming up and the theme is a garden party. So, this fits right in.

shortbread

It snowed here this weekend and I did some baking. One of the cookies I baked is a bit special to me and so I thought I'd share it here.

It has been passed to me by second cousin's daughter, Leann. Is that second cousin once removed? I can never remember such things but, she got it from my Great Aunt Janet. It is a Scottish recipe and tradition. My Mom does not make it (not a fan of the kneading) so she will get some for Christmas.I think it is delicious.



Here is the recipe for my shortbread. I hope you enjoy it!


1 pound (4 sticks) room temperature butter
1 cup superfine sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup rice flour


Set butter on a counter top or flat surface. Sift superfine sugar over butter.Then sift 3 cups of all purpose flour over butter and sugar. Then sift the 1 cup rice flour over the butter, sugar and flour. Then sift the last cup of all purpose flour over everything.

Now with clean hands knead the dough. Bringing it together with your hands and using the base of your hand. Knead until everything is incorporated and it is smooth. You should be able to lift the dough without it breaking. (it might take a while)

After you are done with the kneading, pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees. Make the racks one apart.

Now split the dough into 2 halves and set one aside. Take one half and place on cookie sheet. First press it down with your hands to flaten it and once you have it bascially equal place Saran wrap over the top and use a cookie roller to smooth it out even more. Make sure it is the same thickness so it cooks evenly. Then take your pointer and thumb on your left hand and place them on the border of the dough and then with your middle finger on your right hand push between your pointer and thumb. It creates a crimp on the edge. Complete it around the whole edge. Then take a fork and lighly push it along the top of the shortbread, vertically. Making rows of little holes on top.

Repeat this to the other half that you set aside
Place first half in oven on top rack..

Place the last half in oven on bottom rack.

Time it for 15 minutes and then switch them to different racks.

Time for 20 minutes and then turn then around in oven.

TIme again for 20 minutes and just open oven.
(The reason we are doing this is becasue we need to let out the heat so the shortbread doesn't burn.)

You will know that it is done when you can smell it and also it has a lightly golden brown color. You want it to stay the light golden color. If you need to cook it longer do it in intervules of 10 minutes.

Immediatly after you take it out of the oven cut into squares, (cutting horizontally and vertically)

Shake some superfine sugar on top and place back in oven but make sure the oven is off. It is just to get some of the sugar to melt.

Then take out of oven and let it cool.

The best way to package shorbread is in tins or something of that sort. Always remember to layer it with saran wrap each layer so the shortbread does not break.

* usually the kneading takes about 15 minutes, it depends on how you knead it and what the temperature is. but trust me the first time i made it i thought i put too much flour in but i didn't. just keep working at it, lol. you have to tell me how you make out with it.

capelets and cupcakes

A few more capelets.






-That's Liberty of London corduroy lining. You will see that pop up again on a dress.




Ms. S is happy to model for you.




Some applesauce spice cupcakes I made yesterday from the Martha Stewart Cupcake book I won from Elizabeth. I made the cake stand this summer with some nice glass pieces picked up at a church sale. So easy and pretty. The cupcakes are pretty good but wasn't overly excited about the recommended frosting -brown sugar and cream cheese.

blackberries

This





To This:



We have been picking blackberries every day in our front yard. They are really plentiful this year.
The berry bramble and strawberry fields require so little work and have been really amazing.
I'm thinking blackberries with greek yogurt and honey for breakfast a few times this week.
Also, I'm putting together a garden post which I plan to post soon.

Amongst all the baking and cooking this weekend (zucchini bread was in there) I made these blackberry crumb bars from Martha Stewart that Jenn linked to recently. Yum!
Speaking of Jenn, we met up with each other recently and she is one of the nicest people around. It's so incredibly wonderful to meet up with a blog pal. Oh, and her daughters are so adorable but, if you read her blog you already know that.

strawberry pie

The strawberries fields are ripe and we have been busy picking twice a day for about a week or so now.
Yesterday, I cam home to freshly baked strawberry pie made by M & M and it is absolutely delicious.
The recipe is from here. They did use a store bought crust but other then that I think it was followed exactly.
We have been enjoying a variety of strawberry desserts. Simple pleasures like strawberries and fresh whipped cream, strawberries with melted chocolate chips and mint.

Unrelated- I made an amazing carrot cake the week before.

flowers, kids, cake

ranunculus- one of my favorite



kids
s loves her new push wagon. so fun! want to paint this hallway but am having trouble picking a color.




almond cake
the one blogged about here. so good. make it.

One

gingerbread mobile and cookies

We made some gingerbread cookies on Sunday.

I had remembered a Martha Stewart spread from last year that I liked where she had made a gingerbread mobile. Here it is.
So, I made one too but, much less elaborate.



I had thought that they were hardened enough after a few hours of cooling to make the mobile but, I realize now I should have waited a few days as sadly all the angels have now fallen and suffered a rather untimely death. Currently their heads are hanging and it looks very silly so I need to fix that pronto.

Here are some other cute little cookies.



Oh, and they are really yummy too. The recipe is from here.